AToLaM: A Tale of Love and Mischief
by AHighFunctioningElvenTimeLord
Summary: For S.H.I.E.L.D, Skye would do anything. For Coulson, she'd do even more. But when she stays on-board The Bus during the defense of New York, her life changes in a way she would never have expected. Set in a slightly altered timeline to The Avengers and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Mike Peterson was discovered far before the events of the film, causing Skye to join S.H.I.E.L.D earlier.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Just another day at the Office**

"But Coulson, pleeaaaseee…" Skye begged, pouting at the older Agent.

"Absolutely not Skye, it's too dangerous," he replied, crossing his arms. "Besides, we need you on the Bus, to keep an eye on things from a distance and warn us of any new developments."

"Everyone else gets to go though! It's not fair. I'm a certified S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, so I should be out there with you, fighting to save our planet!" She presented him with her best puppy-dog eyes, hoping that they would change his mind.

"Look, you can either take my advice as a friend, or I can order you to stay here, as a senior Agent" Coulson stated. His tone was blunt, but his eyes softened and a sad smile played on his lips. He reached towards her and affectionately patted her on the arm. "I know you want to help out Skye, but, in all honesty, we have no idea what's going to come through that portal. All we know is it connects to the outer reaches of space, the dwelling place of "The Chitauri", an alien race that promised to follow Thor's brother, if he was able to use them to conquer Earth. What we don't know, is what they look like, how many of them there are and what they can do. Loki's conveniently been unconscious since Thor broke the dark spell controlling him."

Skye said nothing, but continued to pout at Coulson, silently begging him to allow her to tag along to the battle. He had become a father figure to her in the previous months, and she knew he cared a great deal for her too and, as neither of them had had a bond akin to this before, they both valued it highly. However, this only made it less likely for him to change his mind, and obliged her with a staring contest to see who would back down. After several minutes, he looked down, eyes watering, and ran a hand through his hair.

"No means no Agent Skye, I'm ordering you to stay here," looking up, Skye could see the pain in his eyes; he hated having to order her to do something. Sighing, she nodded her head and turned to leave.

"Wait, Skye, one more thing," she turned to face him and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Fetch Fitzsimmons from the lab. They'll keep you company at the command centre, and you can hopefully keep each other from worrying too much. If Fitz refuses to stay on the Bus, I think Gemma said she'd make him a sandwich to convince him,"

"Okay boss, I'll go fetch them. Just don't die okay? Or get yourself seriously injured or anything; I don't know what I'd do without you…"

"I'll try my best. The same goes for you Skye, which is why I want you nowhere near the portal when it opens,"

Skye stepped forward and embraced the father of their ragtag little family, praying that she would see him again before the day was through.

Coulson stepped out of the Bus, and the ramp closed behind him. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he dialled a secure number known to very few people, and waited patiently for his call to be answered.

"I'm on my way now Sir. Agents Skye, Fitz and Simmons are on-board the Bus, and will provide us with info from the satellite feed," he stated when he heard a voice at the other end of the call.

"No, I'm sure they'll stay there and keep us updated,"

Orders were issued to him, he sighed, and the corners of his mouth drooped.

"They won't find the "Cargo" Sir, they've got no idea he's in the Holding Cell and have no reason to be in that section of the bus. I'll see you shortly."

Agent Phil Coulson ended the call, pocketed his phone, climbed into a standard S.H.I.E.L.D. Jeep and headed towards New York City, towards Stark Tower, and towards the opening portal from which the alien Chitauri would invade. Just another day at the office. The thought of fighting off alien invaders, however, did not frighten him, not with The Avengers leading the defence. A God, a genius scientist turned green-rage monster, two master assassins, a genetically enhanced super soldier he had idolised throughout his youth and finally a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist contained in a suit of very powerful armour, backed up by a small army of highly trained soldiers? Today would be a good day to be a hero.

But it would not be a good day for Skye, were she to discover the precious "Cargo" stowed away on the Bus…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Communications**

"Yes Phil, I'll stay on the Bus while everyone else risks their lives," Skye muttered as she stomped towards the Lab.

"Of course I don't mind staying behind and worrying to death about you all," she moaned, slapping the vintage car to the left. Lola's alarms blared, and Skye swore loudly.

"Today just keep getting better and better…"

The car beeped as the alarm was turned off via its keys. Skye looked up to see Jemma Simmons on the balcony above, smiling grimly down at her and pocketing Lola's keys.

"Whatever is the matter Skye? You look like you could murder someone!" She exclaimed, worry for her friend creasing her brow.

"You know what Simmons? I could. Our friends are out there risking their lives and we're stuck in here, it's not fair!"

"Come now, we can still help them from in here! Fitz just finished repairing the comms link, we'd best go help him put it to use. You know he worries when his mind is unoccupied," Jemma explained, smiling at the thought of her best friend rambling on to try and hide the fact he was worrying. After all these years, she could read him like a book but he still tried to stop her from worrying about him. He really was quite cute sometimes.

The two women walked into the command centre, and Skye had to suppress a giggle upon seeing Fitz. Leopold Fitz, the engineering expert of Coulson's little family and one of the brightest minds of his generation, was flailing one arm wildly, interacting with the various different programs running on the holo-screen, and eating a sandwich with the other. The expression on his face, a troublesome picture of anxiety, instantly brightened when he saw his fellow agents enter the room, doing his best to hide his fears, as Jemma knew he would.

"Ahh, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, and a touch of pesto aioli. This really is delicious Jemma, thank you!" he claimed, grinning at her. She smiled back at him, pleased to have taken his mind off the impending alien invasion.

"So Fitz, you've fixed the comms?" Skye questioned, eager to contact Coulson and the rest of the Agents that would be fighting alongside the Avengers.

"Mmph," Fitz replied, mouth full of sandwich, nodding in conformation. He swallowed, and began to reply "Yeah, took a bit of work but managed to get there in the end. Something had come lose in the Holding Cell but I couldn't get in to fix it, I think the blast we took earlier must have fried some of the systems controlling the locking mechanism. But I managed to reroute the power and the signal around it, and we should be able to contact the others now. Emphasis on should,"

"Oh Fitz, when have you ever failed us?" Jemma joked, causing Fitz to blush. Skye caught her eye, and they both grinned.

"Power her up Fitz, I wanna be able to contact May and Coulson and find out if they're okay. When can we view the battle from the satellite feed?" Skye requested, eager to find out about the outside world.

"Okay then, on three," Fitz replied, placing his hand over the button. "One. Two. Three!" He exclaimed, slamming his fist down. The sound of explosions and gunfire filled the room, and the three agents dove to the floor.

Poking her head up from beneath the holo-table, Skye glanced around for the intruders, only to be met with an empty room. It took her a second to realise that they were coming from the speakers, and, as Fitz emerged and helped Simmons to her feet, she spoke.

"Coulson? Coulson, can you hear me?"

"Skye? Is that you?" came the reply. Evidently, Fitz's repairs had been successful.

"Yes, it's me! What are those bangs? Has the invasion started?"

"It's in full force. They look like weird bug things, they're travelling around on weird hover jet things, and they've got what seem to be gigantic carnivorous space whales on their side, but I think we can win this! The Avengers are really doing a number on them, Hulk just took out one of the whales by himself!"

"Ohmygod Coulson, if you get killed I will not be pleased. How are May and Ward? Are they still with you?"

"I can see Ward now; he's taking a breather behind a car. Oh, one second Skye," Skye could hear the agent grunt, and heard several pounding noises followed by an ear-numbing screech and what sounded like a sigh. "Sorry, one of them snuck up on me. We… we lost track of May soon after the battle started, she said something about going to back up Agent Romanoff and took off before we could stop her." Skye gasped, and Coulson quickly attempted to comfort her. The look on Fitzsimmons' faces told Skye they thought exactly what she did, their mismatched little family would soon be without a mother. "She'll be fine Skye; she's called "The Cavalry" for a reason! Romanoff'll be begging for tips off her once this invasion's dealt with!"

"Of course she will Sir, we all know how tough Agent May is. Ending communications now, we don't want to distract you and get you hurt. We'll maintain visuals on the battle, the satellite feed should be coming online any second as Stark's satellites rotate into the correct position. Good luck Sir," Fitz said, moving to end the call.

"Thank you Fitz, you too. Keep us posted. Coulson out," came the reply. The sound of an almighty explosion sounded through the speakers, followed by a yell that could have only come from Phil Coulson.

"Agent Barton! What are you doing?" Coulson asked.

"My job, Coulson, as I'm paid to do,"

Skye, Fitz and Simmons heard the distinct _twang_ of a recurve bow, followed by a terrific explosion, and the transmission from Coulson's microphone abruptly ended. The trio of agents looked at each other, faces frozen in horror. Simmons opened her mouth to say something, when she was interrupted by a series of _bangs_ from below the floor.

_Bang._

"What was that?" Skye asked, voice slightly higher than normal.

"Erm, a chemical reaction maybe? Some of the ones we have in the lab do react to sound, and that explosion was pretty loud?" came Fitz's hesitant reply.

_Bang._

"The sound came from directly below us though, and that's not where the lab is. The Holding Cell is down there," Simmons countered, eyes wide.

"It can't be the electrics that became disconnected earlier; I disconnected their power before I rerouted the comms system. So what's making that noise from in there?" Fitz wondered, fidgeting slightly.

_Bang._

"Or… who?" Skye asked, and the other two agents looked at her in terror.

* * *

_Who indeed Skye? And why does it seem like Agent Barton (A.K.A. Hawkeye) has attacked Coulson? Hahahaha! Sorry readers, you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out! _

_Originally, I had intended this to be a fairly short story, but as I wrote this chapter I kept thinking of new ideas that I could include, so this will hopefully end up being quite a long story, followed perhaps by another (or others? Who knows...). It all depends on the number of views and whether or not I have time over the upcoming exam period, but I hopefully will do!_

_In the mean time, I will do my best to upload a new chapter each day, with the length of them varying. I'll try and avoid cliffhangers in future, no promises there though ;)_

_\- Until next time, AHighFunctioningElvenTimeLord._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Mouse Hole**

_Bang._

"There's something down there. I'm gonna go check it out. Either of you two coming with, or are you gonna stay here and watch the satellite feed?" Skye asked, moving towards the door.

"We can all go Skye, and back each other up if it turns out to be anything bad," Simmons replied, smiling at her friend in a poor attempt to mask her fear.

"Sounds good. We'd better take these Icers too, the power to the armoury door has been lost as well, so we don't have any proper guns just in case," Fitz explained, retrieving 3 Icers from the draw of his desk, keeping one and giving Skye and Simmons the other two.

"Thanks Fitz. Right then, let's go," Skye exclaimed, leaving the command centre and heading down the stairs.

_Bang._

The closer they got to the holding cell, the louder the bangs got. Glancing back at her friends, she nodded and rounded the corner. Fitz really wasn't joking when he said the locking mechanism had been fried. The handle to the door had been totally fused to the door, becoming almost flat against it. The rest of the door looked scorched and Skye sighed.

"There's no way that doors going to open on its own. You weren't kidding about the systems being fried huh Fitz? Anything you can think of that would let us get in there?

_Bang._

It was almost as though the banging was a reaction to them speaking.

"Well, there might be one thing that can help us. Wait here, I'll go see if I can find it," he replied, and dashed off the way they had just come.

"They're going to be alright Skye, the others. Coulson, May, even Ward. They're all amazing agents, and they've got the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. to rely on, as well as the Avengers. You don't need to worry about them, they'll be back in no time," Simmons told her. Skye smiled sadly at her friend, noting the warmth in her eyes. In twenty-seven years of life, she had never come across anyone as friendly and willing to love as Simmons. Despite being an extremely intelligent and talented Biologist, she always went out of her way to comfort her friends, be it making a sandwich or comforting them by accurately guessing what they were thinking about. She was very rarely wrong, when it came to science or people, and Skye knew, that if the contents of the holding cell were dangerous, Simmons would do anything to keep her and Fitz safe, and vice versa.

Fitz came running back to them, coming to a halt and panting heavily. He shoved a small device into Simmons' hands, and gestured to her to explain the device to Skye.

"This… is called the Mouse Hole. Fitz created it a while back but it was never distributed to field agents after he submitted it for testing," She explained.

"Ward claims the top agents hog all the good stuff!" Fitz interjected.

"What is it?" Skye asked, confused.

"It's essentially a small laser-cutter, and can cut through pretty much anything. Allow me to demonstrate," he replied, taking the device from Simmons and turning it on. He moved towards the door. "If there's anyone in there, move away from the door, I'm cutting it open!

_Bang._

The bang was followed by a shuffling sound, and the three agents glanced at each other, eyes wide.

"Fitz?"

"Yeah Skye?"

"Do it!"

Fitz nodded in reply, and began to cut around the edge of the wall. With her fingers crossed, Skye prayed that Fitz was as clever as she thought and that his device could indeed cut through the reinforced door of the holding cell. After several minutes, Fitz turned off the Mouse Hole and pushed the centre of the door he had just finished outlining. It fell into the holding cell, landing with a dull _thud_ on the floor inside, throwing up a cloud of dust that mingled with the smoke from the cutter, a hint of gold shining through from inside the room. A figure came striding through the smoke, and entered the hallway.

Fitz gasped, Simmons grabbed onto his shoulder for support, and Skye's mouth hung open. Shoulder-length black hair framed a pale face, contrasting starkly. His eyes were the first thing she noticed, as they were a bright emerald colour, and the light seemed to dance across them, though they looked troubled at the centre, suggesting they had seen more than their age suggested. His mouth was the next thing she took in. It looked like he was attempting to look serious, though a mischievous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, threatening to break loose at any moment. A splendid green coat covered a leather cuirass, matching the shade of his eyes perfectly, and a golden staff was in his hands. Upon seeing their reactions, the smile broke loose, reaching his eyes as well as his mouth. His entire face lit up, as he spoke clearly and proudly:

"Greetings, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose! The Chitauri are sweeping into your world as we speak, and they will have complete control by the end of tomorrow. If you'll allow me to just get my helmet, we can see what we can do to save your realm," he backed up into the cell, and came back out wearing a horned golden helmet. Gesturing towards the end of the corridor, he beamed at them. "Shall we?"

There was a thud, and Skye looked round to see Simmons lying on the floor.

"Oh dear, I think your fellow agent may have fainted."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Loki**

"Don't even move!" Skye barked, grabbing her Icer and pointing it directly at the God of Mischief. "What are you doing on our ship? I thought you were out there leading an alien army!"

"Relax mortal, I am here in peace. If I wanted to hurt the three of you, I could have done it before you'd even realised I was in here," he replied, grinning evilly at her. "It is true; I was the catalyst for the Chitauri's invasion. But I lead them no longer. Shortly after being captured by your "Avengers", I attempted to bait my brother into the containment cell made for the one you know as Dr. Banner. But, unexpectedly, it seems like he'd learned something since we last faced each other, and didn't fall for my illusions. He managed to catch hold of me and successfully beat some sense into me. Quite literally I'm afraid," he gestured to the small dent in his helmet. "The blow from Mjolnir was enough to knock the dark forces controlling me out of my head, no doubt due to a combination of brute force, the magic imbued into the hammer, and the sheer luck my brother seems to fortune from."

"So… you're a good guy now?" Fitz asked, clearly suspicious.

"Yes, I guess I am," Loki replied.

"And you just expect us to believe you?"

"I do. As a sign of good faith, I will attempt to revive your friend," he told them, and kneeled down next to Simmons. Before either of them could stop him, he placed his hands both sides of her head and reached out to her with his magic. A quick flash of green darted from his hands to her forehead and her eyes snapped open.

"Simmons!" Fitz gasped, kneeling down beside her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine thank you Fitz, he just startled me is all," she replied, allowing him to help her to her feet.

"Apologies, my lady, I was not expecting my presence to have such an effect on you," Loki said, smiling charmingly at her.

"Well it did, let's just move on. You said something about wanting to save our realm from the evil aliens you lead here?" Fitz responded, stepping forwards slightly, positioning himself between Simmons and Loki. Skye couldn't help but grin. Fitz could be very protective of Simmons, and she didn't want to find out what would happen to the guy that one day tried to get through him to her.

"Yes. The Chitauri will have destroyed it by the end of tomorrow, unless I stop them first. Your heroes are no doubt trying to valiantly stop them, but one by one, they will fall. I may not be at the front of the Chitauri army, leading them into battle against your line of defence, but they do not yet know I have been cured of my possession. The monsters think they still answer to me, and we may be able to use that to our advantage," he replied, a frown appearing on his face. "However, I assume we are not close to the battle, else we would have heard it. I heard shouts and screams earlier, it woke me from my unconsciousness, and hence why I started the banging. But I hear sounds of battle no longer. Why is that?"

"We lost the comms link, something must have happened to the agent we were communicating with."

"I see. Do you know who is currently winning the fight?"

"Not right now," Skye explained. "But we can view the satellite feed, it's up in the command centre!"

"Fantastic, lead the way… Agent?"

"Skye. He's Fitz, and she's Simmons."

"A pleasure to meet you all. Now, shall we try and save your planet?"

"Good idea. Follow us." Skye replied, leading the way to the command centre. Once there, Fitz went to work on the holo-table and the monitor, and within moments had them both showing the satellite feed of the battle that Stark Industries was providing them with. The city truly looked like a warzone. Everywhere they looked, skyscrapers had been destroyed, leaving piles of rubble in their place. Aliens streamed from a tear in the sky, firing lasers everywhere. They could see The Avengers, fighting in plain sight, succeeding at drawing the attention of the majority of the invaders. Hulk leaped from building to giant space whale to building, wreaking havoc with each swing of his mighty fists. Black Widow ducked, dodged and weaved around bullets and fists, firing her guns and lashing out at any enemies that came close. Captain America and Iron Man were fighting together, using their variety of weaponry, plus hands and feet to drop foe after foe, with the bodies of their enemies lying in a ring around them. Thor flew through the air, pummelling enemies when possible, and invoking the power of Mjolnir to shoot lightning when his foes clumped together. Loki smiled at the sight of his brother. The only Avenger to be missing was Hawkeye, but Skye assumed Agent Barton was firing on the Chitauri from a distance, as he did best. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were cluttered around in small groups, working on rescuing civilians and containing the alien stragglers, but Skye couldn't see May, Coulson or Ward in the battle, but attempted to convince herself that they were fine. She had to focus on the bigger picture right now; saving the planet. They all did.

"This is just the beginning; this city will fall soon, with your heroes lying defeated. Then the Chitauri will move on to the rest of the world, unless I can get there and command them to leave. Do you have a vehicle to transport me in?"

"Erm… no. All the jeeps are gone, Lola would never get us there in time, and the Bus is too damaged to fly, and repairs would take too long," Fitz replied sheepishly.

"The Bus? Buses fly on your world?" Loki questioned, clearly curious.

"Haha!" Skye giggled. "No, we just call this plane "The Bus". It's not actually a bus though, don't worry,"

"You mortals and your confusing customs," Loki muttered.

"Can't you just blink there anyway? I've read your file, I know you can do that," Simmons asked.

"Unfortunately, I used the remnants of my magic to restore your consciousness agent. But do not fret; I did not have enough to transport myself there anyway."

"So… we're in trouble then?" Fitz asked, his face paling.

"It would seem so," came the reply. Even the Asgardian God of Mischief looked worried.

"Wait, do you actually have to be there? Or can you command them back through their portal by communicating from a distance?" Skye asked.

"I believe communicating from a distance would work, what did you have in mind?"

"Would they recognise your voice without seeing your dashing armour?"

"Aye, they should do," Loki replied, flashing her a dazzling grin. Skye felt herself begin to blush.

"Well then, I think I might have an idea…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: The Trickster**

"You know Skye, that just might work," Fitz exclaimed after Skye had finished outlining her plan.

"Agreed, the Chitauri would definitely fall for it. Plus, we don't need to be anywhere near the fight, so I won't have the weapons of all your warriors in the area trained at my head, which can never be a bad thing," Loki added, smiling at Skye.

"It's a very good plan Skye, Coulson will be proud!" Simmons told her, confirming Skye's hopes; her plan could work.

It was simple really. If the Chitauri would obey Loki's orders simply by recognising his voice and not needing to see him, he didn't need to be anywhere near the battle to order them to retreat. As long as Fitz's repairs held up, which she was sure they would, she should be able to hack into the S.H.I.E.L.D. comms network, connect to all of the electronic devices in the area capable of emitting sound, and simply transmit a recording of Loki ordering the Chitauri to return from where they came from. Unfortunately, her laptop had been destroyed, meaning she had to hack into the system using the holo-table, which was unfamiliar to her, and she could have sworn it was almost as if it was resisting her attempts to control it. She was also unused to using the touch screen functionality of it, preferring an ordinary laptop with proper keys and a cursor. Still, she told herself that if Tony Stark could use these screens and also hack into S.H.I.E.L.D., then there was no reason she couldn't. Fitz assisted her in getting accustomed to the table, and hacked some firewalls whilst she worked on bypassing others.

"We make a great team Skye, we should do this more often," Fitz joked.

"If we survive the end of the world Fitz, I'll do this whenever you want," she replied. "I wonder how Simmons is getting along?"

"It's not every day she gets the chance to patch up a God, I'm sure she's in her element,"

Upon closer inspection, Skye had noticed a number of bruises on Loki's face, and a deep gash on his head, which was mostly hidden by his hair; she would not have noticed it had he not brushed his hair to one side and winced. Aware that it may take them a while to hack the system, Skye had insisted that Loki accompany Simmons to the lab to be given the once-over; she didn't want him keeling over on them right before they had the chance to save the world.

"I am fine, Agent Simmons, I swear. We Asgardians heal a lot faster than you, the wound will have healed and my bruises will have faded by the time we meet up with my brother and your colleagues later on. I appreciate the thought, truly, but I fear your efforts are wasted; we have not the time for you to learn anything of my biology, and none of my wounds need attention," Loki told Simmons once they had arrived at the lab, turning to face her.

"I'm just doing my job, I would never betray the trust of a patient by taking tests!" Simmons replied, outraged.

"I meant no offence, Agent. I merely meant that if you wished to learn something of the biology of Asgardians, we would need a lot longer than the time it will take your friends to access the comms system,"

"No offence taken, although I must admit the concept of becoming the first biologist to test and analyse the body of an Asgardian is very tempting. I would be the first, it would massively further my career!" she told him.

"If we save your world today, I will gladly sit down with you as often as need be for you to take adequate samples to analyse. I fear your people will not trust me, and this action will hopefully give them faith in me,"

"Loki, if you save our planet, nobody will have any reason not to trust you,"

"I hope you are right Agent, because I have grown rather fond of this place, it would be a shame to see it ruled by creatures as ruthless as the Chitauri,"

"Loki! Simmons! We've hacked it, get back up here quickly!" came Fitz's voice from above them.

Quickly glancing at each other, the pair dashed out of the Lab and up the stairs to the command centre.

"You ready to do this?" Skye asked him, handing him a headset.

"Of course," Loki replied, taking it and placing it on his head. "I am the reason the creatures are here, it is only right that I do my part in repelling them,"

"Okay then. Broadcasting in 3. 2. 1!" She slammed her hand down on the large green button on the control panel, and gave Loki a thumbs-up, gesturing for him to make his grand speech to save the planet.

"My dear, dear Chitauri. It is I, Loki! Your leader! I have spoken with the Leaders of this world, and intercepted priority messages. I have infiltrated the agency in charge of the safety of this world against the might of armies of powerful beings such as you! I deem them unworthy of ruling, it would be a waste of time and energy to conquer this realm. It is well and truly worthless!" Loki bellowed into the headset, his face flushing a very pale shade of red. He became more and more animated as he continued his speech, his arms spread out, as though addressing an audience directly in front of him. She remembered the footage of him at Stuttgart, making a speech to the people there, before he was taken down by half of The Avengers. Loki had seemed like an evil, evil man, controlled by a malevolent force. But how much of the evil in him was simply the force that had controlled him? Skye glanced at Fitzsimmons, who were exchanging worried glances, and she wondered how much of what Loki was saying was true. They glanced at her, and she knew what they were thinking; she could read it in the expressions on their faces. Had they done the right thing?

"Return to the portal my army; go back to whence you came! I will find you another realm ripe for conquest, one with inhabitants worthy of ruling!"

Skye sighed, thankful that his speech had not taken a turn for the worse. He must have heard her, for he turned and winked at her, smiling broadly. She found herself blushing again, but chose to beam back at him, her smile very bright. This time it was his turn to blush. He took the headset off, and addressed the three Agents;

"Well, I think that went well!" gesturing at the screen displaying the battle. The Chitauri had begun to return to the portal, but The Avengers and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were not going to stand down until the last one had disappeared and the portal had been shut down. Skye could see Black Widow, Thor, The Hulk and Captain America, but Hawkeye and Iron Man were nowhere to be seen.

"Skye? Skye come in! Are you there?" Coulson's voice sounded over the comms.

"Coulson, yes, I'm here!"

"I'm guessing you just saw what happened on the screen? All of the aliens just upped and left mid battle! And I was just getting warmed up too…"

"Yeah, I saw, are you okay?"

"I'm fine thank you. All thanks to Loki. Apparently, he has access to the S.H.I.E.L.D. comms network, because he just transmitted orders for the Chitauri to retreat from every wireless device in the area!"

"Well, about that…" Skye began, but was quickly interrupted.

"Skye, what did you do?" He asked; she could hear the worry in his voice.

"Son of Coul!" Loki began, before Skye could answer. "I need no thanks for my assistance; I was just doing my part to repel the invaders,"

"Well that's good, because we needed it," Skye could hear the smile in his voice, and she was so pleased that they had been able to save the planet.

"The portal will close now right?" She asked, to everyone present; her boss, her genius best friends and to the God who was responsible in setting it up.

"Well, about that Skye. We're kind of hoping it doesn't, because Fury's council just launched a nuke at Manhattan, and Tony has just gone to fetch it. He's going to try and steer it into the portal, to get rid of it and to take out those aliens."

"Your man of iron must do so quickly then, for the portal will be closed in less than 2 minutes," Loki explained, worry appearing on his face. Fitz pointed at the screen, and Skye could see the size of the portal begin to diminish rapidly, as if proving Loki's point. In the corner of the screen, she could see The Hulk launch himself out of view.

"But he's at least 10 minutes away!" Coulson exclaimed. Skye began to worry now, he had never heard him like this before; he sounded truly petrified.

_THUD._

_BANG._

There was a loud thud and a bang outside The Bus, and Simmons squealed as The Hulk burst through the cargo door. He spotted the four people in the command centre, and jumped up to their floor.

"Guys, what's going on back there?" Coulson asked.

"_Puny God!_" Hulk growled, proceeding to grab Loki. He began to squirm in the beasts grasp, and Skye could see his hand begin to glow green, assuming he would use his magic to blink out of its grasp. But the glow began to fizzle and spark, before fading away. Loki stiffened, and the smile that usually played across his face had been replaced with a look of utter terror. She could see the fear in his eyes, and before the three Agents could even react, The Hulk had smashed a hole in the wall and leaped out, with Loki still in his grasp. The three of them dashed to the hole just in time to see the green mass become a dot in the distance. After a few seconds of them staring towards the city in disbelief, Skye began to stammer to Coulson;

"Hulk just… Hulk… He just… abducted Loki!"

* * *

_Okay guys, 3 things!_

_First of all, thank you for reading this story! I really hope you are enjoying it! Let me know what you think in the reviews, creative criticism is always appreciated!_

_Secondly; Finally, an update! I'm sorry it took so long guys, I've been really busy with school and life recently! So this is a longer chapter than normal to say sorry!  
__Writing this story really excites and entertains me, and the reviews and follows really mean a lot! So i'm going to do my best to keep updating this story as often as possible. However, I know what it's like to follow an author or content creator that only posts sporadically, and as such I'm going to stick to the following schedule as best I can; 3 new chapters a week, on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and I'll do my best to upload one on a Sunday too! If I unfortunately cannot keep up with this schedule for whatever reason (Comic Con in a fortnight and exam season is starting soon!) I will ensure that the chapter is either uploaded the next day, or the next one is super long! I write these chapters one at a time and upload them immediately after writing them, taking only the time required to proof read them in between writing and posting them._

_Finally, I do indeed have a rough plan for this story, and, if all goes well, initials ideas for a potential sequel! But don't expect any hints about what is going to happen in these authors notes, or in response to any reviews! However, the fact it is a plan means it is subject to change, and as such if you want to leave a review giving me an idea, or message it to me, I will try and incorporate the idea into the story if I like it, giving you full credit. Also, if I make a mistake when referencing something, or link to something that doesn't sound canonical, just let me know and I will do my best to fix it._

_Until next time dear readers,_

_AHighFunctioningElvenTimeLord_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Thinking with Portals**

The nearby area flew by Loki in a dizzying blur of colours as he flew through the air, securely held in Hulk's grasp. Glancing behind him, he could see the "Bus" shrink as they hurled further and further away, and the city exploded into view in front of them. Storm clouds swirled above it, a darkening swathe of grey, and Loki could see the portal shrinking rapidly above Stark Tower, sparks of electricity and magic jolting from it.

"Loki!" Thor cried when Hulk had set him down. The God of Thunder rushed to his brother's side and pulled him into a hug, slapping him on the back. Loki returned the hug, feeling his strength return as he absorbed Thor's warmth. Whilst they may not be biological brothers, they had spent many years together, training, fighting and feasting, and the bond between them was just as strong, which allowed Loki to tap into Thor's strength and sap some for himself. Thor realised what was going on as his eyes widened, before looking at Loki and nodding. "It is good you are here. You are the only one with the skill to keep this portal open, and if it closes we shall all perish," he explained, the look on his face imploring Loki to help.

"Worry not brother. Whilst I may not be keen on humans on the whole, I have become rather fond of a few and have no interest in dying myself. I shall do what I can, but I require you and your new friends to step back slightly," he replied. Sweeping his arms wide and turning to face the portal, Loki began flexing his fingers and expanding his mental consciousness. As he did so, Thor faced the Agents that remained and his team mates and gestured for them to retreat to a safe distance. Loki mentally probed the area, allowing a mostly transparent mist to seep from his hands, which diffused in the air. Gradually, it snaked up towards the portal, and began to flow inside. Loki located the magical focal point of the portal, and began to tease it back open gently, wriggling his fingers and whispering incantations. He poured his magic into it, refusing to allow it to close. Feeling himself begin to sag, he called for his brother, who immediately came to his side.

"How close is your metal man? This portal will not stay open for long,"

"I shall find out brother," he jogged over to a senior Agent who sounded a lot like Coulson, and curtly exchanged conversation. The Agent spoke into a mouthpiece, and suddenly Stark's voice flowed from it.

"I'm almost there guys, I can see the portal from here. You gotta keep it open just a minute longer, we aren't losing this!" he exclaimed, and the others nodded.

"That is easier said than done," Loki replied and, as if to iterate his point, the portal tugged against Loki's magic and shrunk several feet. "Thor! Lend me your strength!" he cried, and the God of Thunder stepped forward, clasping Loki's shoulder. Warmth flooded into Loki, heating the coldness that flowed through him, being a Frost Giant. Loki poured much more magic into the portal, and, roaring, tore it open several meters. The area was suddenly lit with an eerie green light. He grinned. Green was never a particularly positive colour on Asgard, but he had always preferred it to others; to him it just _screamed_ mischief. Suddenly, the portal began to resist his attempts, and Loki sensed another force interfering with his magic. Loki buckled and strained, but the portal grew no bigger, beginning to shrink with every passing moment. It had become a glorified tug of war with extremely impressive visual effects, and Loki was tired. Very, very tired. No matter how much energy he drew from his brother, he knew it would not be enough; Thor had been fighting for hours and was as drained as he was. Combatting an enemy sorcerer and keeping a portal open at the same time was no easy task, and was quickly depleting the very little magic the two had in reserve. It would be far simpler to open another portal… That was it! Loki looked at Thor.

"Brother, do you trust me?"

"Only as far as I can throw you," Thor replied.

"I guess it's a good thing you're so strong then," Loki responded, winking. Relinquishing his hold on the portal, he allowed it to quickly shrink and blink out of existence. The scene exploded, with the nearby humans clamouring with rage that he had sabotaged their efforts to save the planet.

"Calm down! I could not keep open the portal any longer, it simply required much more energy than my brother and I had available. I'm going to open a new one instead!" Loki cried, hoping it would calm them down. He would need total concentration if he were to open a new portal without alerting Heimdall to their presence, as he would immediately try to counteract Loki's work.

"Well you and Goldilocks had better make it snappy, I'm inbound on your location and closing the distance fast!" Stark yelled through the Comms, and his jets roared in the distance, emphasising his point.

Loki turned away from the group, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and went to work.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The most important man in the world**

With arms waving furiously and fingers wiggling like a group of baby snakes, Loki poured all of his magic into creating a portal that would hopefully save Midgard. With the things he'd learned from countless years of poring over magical scrolls and tomes, he quickly and deftly opened a portal to another realm, with the hopes that the bomb could be steered into it. However, created a portal large enough to fit it through was taking far more energy than Loki had predicted, and he quickly felt his strength begin to wane. As if sensing his brothers failing magic reserves, Thor grasped Loki's shoulder, and pooled their magic together. Loki felt a burst of life flow through him, and his hands began to glow bright green.

"How's it going guys? Because I can see you doing your hocus pocus, you've got about 10 seconds until impact!" Stark yelled through the comms.

With a grunt, Loki splayed his hands apart and the portal burst open, a green lipped tear in the evening sky.

"There metal man! Aim for the hole in the sky!" Thor roared.

"You don't have to tell me twice," came the reply. Loki glanced over his shoulder, and saw Tony altering his course towards the portal.

"Erm, I don't think I can slow down!" Tony was clearly panicking now. Thor began to spin Mjolnir, intending to catch his colleague before he flew into the gateway to an unknown alien realm, but Loki tapped him to stop him.

"Please, allow me," he offered, winking, and conjured a giant green hand just below the portal. Sweat formed on his brow; the pressure was on. He was aware that if he failed to catch Stark, he would be blamed for killing him. The rocket and the suit flew towards the portal, and right as the rocket went through, Loki gestured sharply upwards, and the hand grabbed Stark before he went through. Loki then swept his hands apart deftly, the hand lowered Tony to the floor, and the portal collapsed on itself.

Silence filled the area for several seconds, before it erupted into cheers. Thor enveloped Loki in a hug, pounding him on the back and thanking him. The surviving Agents hugged, cheered, and cried tears of joy as they celebrated their victors. Loki grinned at his brother, and hugged him back quickly, before ending the embrace. Glancing at the scorched metal suit lying on the ground, Loki smirked. Offering a hand, he helped Iron Man to his feet, who promptly removed his helmet.

"On behalf of the most important person here, myself, thank you for saving the most important person here, me. Oh, and the rest of the world too," Tony told him, and winked.

"You're welcome tin can, glad I could help. Though in future, I could do with some warning, I don't particularly enjoy being abducted by giant green rage monsters,"

"Oh that. Yeah, sorry about that, I get a little carried away sometimes," came a voice from over his shoulder. Glancing behind him, Loki was greeted by the sight of a topless man with a head of shaggy brown hair, wearing trousers far too large for him. Shrugging, the scientist clapped him on the shoulder as way of thanks, and wandered off into the crowd, presumably to find a shirt.

"Well if you give us warning when you plan on going on a zealous rampage across our world, maybe we can work something out," Stark told him, grinning.

"Fair point my friend," Loki replied, grinning back, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and find someone,"

"Go ahead. Party at my place tomorrow night though! Be there willingly Loki, or I'll make sure Thor forces you to come!"

"I will see you then Tony, farewell!"

Turning from Tony and Thor, Loki closed his eyes, and blinked away, in the direction of the Bus.


End file.
